


Up in the Balcony

by Joyfulnerd



Series: The Bells [1]
Category: Veronica Mars (Movie 2014), Veronica Mars (TV), Veronica Mars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-04
Updated: 2014-10-04
Packaged: 2018-02-19 21:07:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2402915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joyfulnerd/pseuds/Joyfulnerd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little drabble inspired by some of the lyrics from "I Hear The Bells" by Mike Doughty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Up in the Balcony

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta-ed fic that kinda came out of nowhere. I hope it's not too OOC.

_Let's go make out up in the balcony_  
 _Your business dress, so businesslike and I'm_  
 _Tossing the blouse over a chair back_

Veronica shut the front door behind her and then slumped against it, her eyes shutting for a long moment. Today just sucked. No other word for it. "Veronica?" Logan's voice rang out from somewhere deeper in their apartment. THEIR apartment. Veronica wondered if she'd ever stop marveling at the reality of sharing a home with Logan Echolls. Yes, she had lived with Piz in New York, but if she's totally honest that always felt more like a roommate type arrangement (sorry, Piz). A year and a half into her new and improved relationship with Logan, the last six months of it in their own apartment, she feels like she is at home. It gave her all sorts of sappy warm fuzzies to come home to Logan, especially after a day like today. 

"Yeah, it's me. You were expecting someone else?" She slips off the heels she was wearing and walks down the hall to find him in the kitchen. After she shrugs out of her charcoal suit jacket, she stops for a moment to admire his lean form as he bends to check on something in the oven. Pizza by the smell of it. Turns out Logan's magic hands are pretty great in kitchen too. 

As he turns around, Logan answers her question, "I wasn't expecting anyone else, just my lady love." His eyes are twinkling as he smiles broadly at her. She knows he relishes their new home life as much as she does. She watches as Logan's gaze slides down her body taking in her sleeveless deep purple blouse and the charcoal pencil skirt she's wearing. He'd been out on a run when she'd left for the day. Judging by his expression, Logan seems to quite like Business Veronica.

"Lady love, huh?" She walks up to him and wraps her arms around his slim waist. 

"Yup." That's all he says but his gaze is so tender she almost can't stand it. She lets herself soak it in for a moment before speaking again. 

"What kind did you make?" she asks, looking at the oven.

"Cantaloupe, prosciutto, and Arugula." She grimaces at him. Logan likes to experiment with his pizza toppings. She's more of a classics lover. 

"Oh, and the second one is sausage, mushroom, and onion...with extra cheese" This earns him a grin and a peck on the mouth. Her man knows her well. He smiles down at her, but she can tell he's trying to read her, see how things went today. 

"It didn't go well?" Veronica shrugs. This case had taken some unexpected turns. She had tried to stay emotionally detached, but it hit too close to home today. 

"Want a glass of wine on the balcony? You can tell me about it?" Logan's voice is so sweet and she can tell he's trying not to push, just be there for her.

"That sounds perfect." 

"I'll get the wine. You head out." Logan kisses her forehead before turning to get the wine glasses out of the cabinet.

Veronica walks across the small dining area, pulls open the sliding glass door, and steps onto their balcony. Their apartment building isn't on the beach, but it is close enough that they often sit out here and watch the sun set into the Pacific, sipping wine or eating dinner and reveling in each other's presence. Veronica walks over to the railing and leans on it, ostensibly watching the sunset but not really seeing anything.

Sara Larson had come to Mars Investigations positive that her husband was cheating on her. Certainly not an unusual case for Mars Investigations and when she had started investigating, Veronica found out Sara was right. Her husband, Peter, had been cheating on his wife...with his high school sweetheart. The real knife twist had come when Veronica was doing surveillance on Peter and watched him leave his 11-year-old son, Tony, at home alone so he could meet up with his mistress at a bar. Neglectful, drunken, philandering parent. Once Veronica had presented her findings to Sara, things had moved quickly and when Sara had asked Veronica to testify at the custody hearing, Veronica hadn't hesitated. 

The sound of the door sliding open brings Veronica back to the present and she turns to accept her glass from Logan. As she turns back to the railing, Logan comes to stand beside her. They watch the sun set in silence for a while until Logan asks her how the hearing went.

"Sara got custody, so that's good."

"But..." 

"But...." Veronica hesitates and her mind drifts again, far enough that when Logan takes her hand, she jumps slightly. As Logan uses his thumb to massage the back of her hand, she sighs and starts speaking again.

"But her husband lost it at one point when I was presenting my findings. He started yelling and he said, 'What the hell do you know, you blond bitch? How do you know what's best for my kid?'" Logan's grip tightens as she speaks and she squeezes his hand back so he knows she's okay.

"I just froze, Logan. I wanted to shout at him, tell that obviously leaving his kid alone so he can get drunk, screw his mistress, and then stumble home again later when he thinks he's sobered up isn't a great parenting model, but I just froze." She silent for a moment. Her reaction had surprised her. After everything with Aurora Scott had brought her mom careening back into her life, Veronica had thought she was dealing with her mommy issues. But when Peter Larson had screamed at her, old wounds had been ripped back open. When she'd been Tony's age, Lianne had been much better at hiding her drinking, but it had been there. The lurking monster that would eventually play a part in driving her mother to run out on her only child. What had surprised Veronica the most about her reaction, which she only realized later when she was walking down the beach trying to calm down before going home, was that she was so sad that Peter Larson was partly right. She had no clue what it was like to be a parent and one half of her examples of parenthood was someone who'd left her behind. How was Veronica ever supposed to know what a mother should be? 

Finally, Veronica speaks again with a sigh, "I'm fine. It just brought up stuff I'd rather not think about." Veronica turns and sets her glass on the patio table and crosses her arms, rubbing her upper arms to warm up from the evening chill.

Logan sets his own glass down, pulls her up into his arms, and kisses her forehead.

"I wish you'd been there." Veronica holds tight to Logan and speaks softly, "I think it would have helped me feel better to look up and see you." Logan had offered to come with, but she'd brushed him off, saying she'd be fine. She knew he'd been disappointed when she'd said no. They'd worked hard to build their life as a couple, to merge two separate lives into one shared life, but Veronica's default mode was still to do things on her own. 

Logan's running his hands up and down her back making soothing patterns of warmth that seep into Veronica's skin. 

"I wished I'd been there too, babe. Of course, I might have just jumped up and slugged the guy if I had been there." 

Veronica smiles broadly at him, relieved that the serious discussion portion of the night is over. She reaches up to wrap her arms around his neck and says, "See, I think that would have helped me feel a lot better!"

Logan laughs and she kisses him, wrapping her hands around the back of his neck, but before she can deepen the kiss, he pulls back. She frowns. That's not right. Now he's supposed to spin them around and take her back to their bedroom and make her forget today's suckfest.

"Veronica, you're not her." Logan sounds hesitant. He must know she doesn't want to do this, to talk about this.

"Logan..."

"No, Veronica. You've always been so quick and sure about telling me that I'm not like Aaron. That I won't be like him. You're not her. You're not Lianne Mars." He sounds so certain. Positive that Veronica won't find herself stumbling down the same path of pain and abandonment that Lianne had forged.

"How do you know? How can you possibly know?" Veronica's voice is small and she hates how desperate she sounds.

"Because you're Veronica fucking Mars. Because I _know_ you. Because you're fierce and loyal and badass. And despite hiding behind a nearly impenetrable layer of snark, you love more deeply than almost anyone I know. Lianne was weak and scared and she never fought for the things she supposedly loved. And aside from falling back in with your high school sweetheart, sans adultery, you are nothing like her."

"High school sweetheart? I think you mean high school jackass." She smiles at him with a teasing look.

"Potato, potahto. But I mean it, all of it, Veronica. I know that if we ever have ki..." Logan trails off and his eyes widen as he realizes what he just said. Veronica's eyebrows are raised as he tries again. "If you ever have ki..." Veronica's brow furrows as she frowns at him. "You won't be like her," he finishes lamely.

Veronica is surprised to find that the idea of having kids with Logan doesn't _absolutely_ terrify her. She's in no hurry (AT ALL), but she's kind of pleased to find she's not running out the door at the mere idea and that Logan seems pretty certain she wouldn't totally screw up if they ever did decide to start a family. She realizes Logan is staring at her anxiously. She opens her mouth to thank him for what he's said, but when she speaks, she just says, "I love you."

It's far from the first time she's said it, but every time she does Logan looks at her like everything he's ever wanted is standing in front of him. Tonight is no different. 

"I love you, too, Veronica Mars." His voice takes on that deep gravelly quality it always does when he's emotional. And then he's kissing her and she's kissing him. It's deep and passionate and before long Veronica is pressed tightly against Logan as he spins them around toward the door, opening it without breaking the kiss.

As they stumble into the living room, Logan pulls off her blouse and throws it over the back of one of the club chairs. He's talking between kisses, "FYI, I really like the power suit look."

"Mmm...I could tell when I came in. Frankly, I'm surprised it's taken you this long to get me out of..." The rest of her words are lost as Veronica gasps when Logan finds the spot just under the curve of her jaw that never fails to make her weak in the knees. They fall onto the couch and she has Logan's shirt halfway off when the timer on the oven goes off.

"Pizza!" Veronica starts to sit up.

"Sex." Logan kisses her deeply and presses her back onto the couch.

"Pizza." 

"Sex."

Veronica's stomach growls loudly and Logan groans as his head drops in defeat. Veronica just laughs and places her hands on either side of his face, pulling his head up so she can look him in the eye.

"Pizza and then sex?" she offers.

"Deal."


End file.
